TRANSIT took note of some more very interesting news from down south, in which the Menteri Besar of Johor Abdul Ghani Othman announced that he had given approval to Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn. Bhd. to construct a commuter rail network for south Johor (the Iskandar Development Region and Johor Baru).
The “proposal” for the rail network was announced earlier this year and mentioned by TRANSIT here. But if you read our post, we clearly stated our expectation that the project be put out to an open and transparent tender.
It appears that this is not the case, and the contract has been awarded directly to Metropolitan Commuter Network, a joint-venture of KUB Malaysia and Masteel.
- Johor MB approves Mastel-KUB RM1.23b intra-city commuter train service plan (The Edge, 16 April 2011);
- Johor govt approves RM1.23b intra-city train project (Business Times, 16 April 2011
TRANSIT Says:
Such interesting news from down in Johor!
Let’s just say that we are a bit concerned about the suddenness of the announcement and the approval – especially coming so soon after the announcement of a 500km ‘MRT’ for Iskandar-Johor.
We will reserve comment for now and just post the articles so you can read them yourself.
Transit Malaysia 
10 replies on “Proposal for Iskandar-Johor commuter system approved in less than 3 months. TRANSIT: Here we go again”
This is what Iskandar need. Start working and get it done now!
Malaysia Boleh!!! Kronisma dan rasuah Malaysia jauh lagi boleh!!
This is the true behaviour of a political a gangster.
For him, things done fast is political gimmick. Things done slow and he will bash till the cows come home.
If his ideas are adopted, we must do this as slow as possible.
This nation must move forward. There’s no time for bullshit. There’s no time entertaining such irresponsible behaviour. What if we fall into the trap set by these irresponsible individuals? Will our beloved nation willing to sit down and watch the rest of the world leave us further? Grow up, my fellow citizens!
It is sad that when the whole world is moving forward, here we have a moron who wants to be a snail 😥
@wrongdoings_rapidkl,
yeah, we should have another rush job just like STAR LRT.
What Transit wants is more transparency, more interaction between the stakeholders (which is we the people, taxpayers, commuters etc.) so that we can get the best possible transport system.
Jeffrey, not Transit.
@Wrongdoings_rapidkl
You can say whatever you want, but the GENUINE AND TRUTH OF REALITY will prevailed. Your words totally 100% absolutely surely cannot change many facts and truths of reality or dark secrets of the government.
Mr. Jeffrey writes based on hallucinations.
On the other hand, wrongdoings_rapidkl writes based on his experience onboard public transportation, and hence, his postings in The Star Blog. In other words, wrongdoings_rapidkl writes nothing but the TRUTH.
He is advised to write responsibly in the future.
I’m going to advise both of you to write more responsibly in the future. TRANSIT’s expectations of commentators on our blog are quite clear and you both are spending a lot of wasted time dancing on the edge.
This is the second time you have both been advised. Does there need to be a third time?
Regards, moaz for TRANSIT
[…] This comes after recent articles in which the Johor MB was said to have given approval to the proposal from Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn Bhd (MCN). See our comments on that news here. […]
[…] Metropolitan Commuter Network that has been proposed in a strange manner, “accepted” or endorsed by the Menteri Besar, and given to two companies that have little experience in public transport projects – all […]